2003 Consolidated Plan for Housing & Community Development
Housing Needs

The table below summarizes the City's priority housing needs and its goals for the five-year period beginning July 1, 2003. The "5-year total units needed" represent the total number of households in these categories which HUD estimates to have any housing problems.  (The principal housing problem among all groups is cost burden.) The estimates are taken from the 2002 CHAS Table 1C.  It should be noted that HUD’s 2002 estimates are based on 1990 census data.  "Total

Through the late 1990s and until the last quarter of 2001, the greater Burlington area enjoyed unprecedented economic prosperity: 

• During the decade of the 1990s, Chittenden County's total employment increased by 17,736 jobs (23%). (Vermont Department of Employment & Training) 
• The annual average unemployment rate for the County dropped to 2.2% in 1998 and then stayed below 2% for 1999 and 2000. (Vermont Department of Employment & Training) 
• The regional economy is expected to add an estimated 44,250 jobs over the 2000-2010 period. (Housing in Northwest Vermont: A Review of Demand and Supply of Housing in the Six County Region, Economic Policy Resources, August 2000) 

Against the backdrop of this booming economy, there has been a persistent housing affordability and availability crisis affecting nearly every segment of the population: 

• The rental vacancy rate for Chittenden County was at or below one percent from June 1996 to June 2001, rising recently only to 2%. (Allen & Brooks Report, December 2002) 
• Apartment rents rose faster than the inflation rate for the third year in a row, rising between 5 percent and 9 percent per year. (Allen & Brooks Report, December 2002) 
• A recent national study found that Burlington area renters need to earn $16.08 per hour to afford a two-bedroom apartment - an increase of 18.4% over the last two years, while area median income only increased by 9.86% during the same period. (Out of Reach, National Low Income Housing Coalition, September 2002) 
• The median price of a single-family home in Chittenden County increased by 19% in the last two years, and by 33.7% in the last three years. (Allen & Brooks Report, December 2002) 

The housing shortage is forcing people to seek housing outside the county or to seek emergency temporary shelter. Although the rental market creates problems for both low (i.e., those at 50% or less of median) and moderate (i.e., those earning 51 to 80% of median) income households, very low-income (i.e., those at 30% or less of median) rental households are effectively frozen out of the private rental market entirely. According to the 2000 Census, a disproportionately higher percentage of African American, Native American, Asian and other non-white households are found in that income category. Persons with disabilities and those receiving public assistance are at a greater than usual competitive disadvantage. Only about a third of Section 8 voucher recipients in Burlington are successful in finding an apartment because of low vacancy rates and escalating rents.

Homeownership rates in the City are substantially lower than county, state and national levels, and homeownership is out of reach to most low-income Burlington residents. Affordability and availability are both problem issues. Limited numbers of properties are on the market; 47% of Burlington homeowners have occupied the same house for 20 or more years. (2000 Census) At the 2001 county median home price of $169,700, a household needed a monthly mortgage payment (at a 7.2% 30-year mortgage interest rate) of over $916. (Allen & Brooks Report, December 2002) Other than through Habitat for Humanity, it is virtually impossible to qualify households in the extremely low (0 - 30% of median) income range for homeownership. Even under the Section 8 homeownership pilot, most buyers will fall in the moderate (51 - 80% of median) income range.

Vermont has the second oldest housing stock in the nation, and Burlington's housing stock is, proportionately, even older - statewide, 34.5% of housing units are at least 50 years old whereas in Burlington, 47.6% of units are at least that old. That means that rehabilitation and conversions are a critical aspect of efforts to expand the supply of affordable housing.

Burlington neighborhoods are home to a sizeable population of college students. The presence of over 6,000 college students living off campus contributing to the economic vitality of Burlington, but also puts upward pressure on rental housing prices and decreases the availability of rental housing to families and working people. In addition to the market affects of the large population of students living off-campus, there are noticeable impacts on the quality of life in neighborhoods with a high concentration of students. 

Housing needs in Burlington involve regional issues. Although Burlington and Winooski together account for about one-third of Chittenden County's population, the two cities are home to 68% of the County's publicly assisted affordable housing units and 74% of the County's publicly assisted tenants.[4] 

You can also view this information in table format.

On a countywide basis, the number of assisted apartments available for low and moderate income renters meets less than half of the demand.[5] While there were 6,769 housing units added to the Chittenden County stock between 1990 and 2000, 72% of those units were single family homes - not rental units.

Strong economic growth in the six-county region surrounding Burlington is expected to stimulate a dramatic need for additional housing, and housing availability constraints could seriously impede the ability of the region to realize its economic development potential.[6] Further, while the economic expansion includes high paying, highly desirable jobs, the majority of new jobs created are actually likely to be lower paying jobs in the retail and services categories - exacerbating the existing crisis in affordable housing.

The population in the six-county region is predicted to increase by 41,450 people. Owner-occupied households are projected to increase by nearly 18,000. Of those households, almost 10,000 (well over half) are projected to be earning less than 120% of median household income - the category of households generally thought to require assistance to achieve homeownership. Over one third, or roughly 6,400 households, are projected to be earning less than 80% of median household income.

Renter households are projected to increase by roughly 5,600 - a level that is nearly 75% greater than the renter household growth rate during the 1990's. Over 70% of those households are expected to be earning less than 80% of median household income. Roughly 1,700 households - or nearly one third of the renter household increase - are projected to be earning less than 30% of median household income.

History of Municipal Response to Housing Crises

On two separate occasions during the 1980s, the City turned to housing task forces to develop solutions to address pressing housing challenges. In 1980, then Mayor Gordon Paquette formed the Mayor's Housing Task Force largely in response to PACT (People Acting for Change Together), an organized group of renters and other community members that were urging the formation of such a group "to plan and implement ways to solve the housing crisis that is inflicting severe hardship on the city's low income residents." Among other things, PACT was organizing around the issue of rent control to protect low-income tenants. After nine months of work, representing 30 meetings and testimony from 25 representatives, the Task Force made the following recommendations: 

• Create a Fair Housing Commission with adequate eviction controls 
• The University of Vermont should attempt to house 55% of its student body by 1985 and 60% by 1990, in contrast to the present 49% 
• Revise City's master plan with citizen input, with special emphasis on a comprehensive housing plan 
• Review and adopt a new building code 
• Expand minimum housing inspection staff and provide for stricter enforcement of violations 
• Conduct complete review of the Burlington Housing Authority 
• Develop an internal system for property reappraisal. 

In June of 1985, at the urging of the administration of then Mayor Bernie Sanders, the Burlington Board of Alderman (now called City Council) created a 10-member Affordable Housing Task Force to develop a program for affordable housing. The impetus for creating the 1985 Task Force was a series of public debates regarding the adoption of an Inclusionary Zoning ordinance. The Task Force met bi-weekly through the fall of 1985 and concluded their deliberations over the winter of 1985-1986. On July 26, 1986, this task force made the following 25 recommendations designed to both create more affordable housing and to preserve the existing stock of affordable units: 

• Streamline the Planning & Review process 
• Formalize the Technical Review Committee 
• Establish a Housing Trust Fund 
• Enact Density Bonuses 
• Amend zoning ordinance to permit accessory apartments 
• Encourage residential conversion of vacant upper story retail space 
• Make City-owned land available for affordable housing 
• Advocate state enabling legislation to encourage housing cooperatives 
• Advocate implementation of a Regional Housing Strategy through CCRPC 
• Adopt an ordinance which links major commercial development to affordable housing through the levying of an impact fee 
• Adopt an Inclusionary Zoning ordinance that requires 30% of new units be affordable or allows developers to pay in lieu of affordable units 
• Restrict office and commercial uses in residential districts 
• Adopt Housing Replacement ordinance 
• Develop program to retain existing federally-subsidized apartments 
• Adopt Condo Conversion ordinance 
• Mandatory time of sale inspection of rental units 
• Require apartment registration
• Establish landlord/tenant mediation board 
• Provide security of tenure/just cause eviction protection 
• Increase the housing supply for UVM and Champlain College students 
• Enact energy conservation measures/programs 
• Pursue alternatives to the property tax 
• Enact a real estate speculation tax 
• Enact an impact fee ordinance that exempts affordable units 
• Provide moral and financial support to ending homelessness 

Many of the recommendations that resulted from the work of these two task forces have been implemented over the past 20 years; yet many housing needs remain unmet today. As the federal government devotes an increasing share of resources to pressing international affairs, Burlington must develop innovative local solutions to mitigate the harmful effects of a persistent housing crisis on the lives of low and moderate-income residents.

In the fall of 2001, Mayor Peter Clavelle appointed an Affordable Housing Task Force with a variety of members from the private, public and nonprofit sectors. The charge of the Task Force was to develop a set of recommendations to the Mayor and City Council that further the following broad housing goals: 

• Produce new affordable housing 
• Preserve the existing affordable housing 
• Protect vulnerable populations 
• Promote affordable homeownership 

The Task Force assessed Burlington's current housing conditions: both market rate housing and publicly-assisted housing units. This included a review of the regulatory and administrative impediments to creating more affordable housing. Although the Task Force was charged with focusing their attention on improvements to Burlington's policies and programs as they impact affordable housing, there was also time devoted to changes needed at the State and regional level to encourage more affordable housing development and preservation throughout the region. The work of the Task Force complemented and was coordinated with the efforts of the Chittenden County Housing Task Force, which is being convened by the Chittenden County Regional Planning Commission.

The Task Force held 15 meetings (including two public hearings) between November 2001 and June 2002 to gather public comments, assess Burlington's current housing conditions, review regulatory impediments to creating more housing and to explore changes needed at the local, regional, state and federal level to encourage more affordable housing development and preservation throughout the region. The Task Force's report led to a 67-step Action Plan adopted by City Council. The recommendations of the Task Force are incorporated throughout this Consolidated Plan.

Page last updated May 13, 2003